STATEHOUSE NEWS: Money first, labor later as Massachusetts eyes ways to help Texas

Thursday

Aug 31, 2017 at 11:15 AMAug 31, 2017 at 11:21 AM

By Andy Metzger/STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE

First send money, and there will be opportunities later to help with the cleanup needed for Texas to recover from Hurricane Harvey.

That's the basic message Gov. Charlie Baker has received in talks with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott about the help his state could use from the public and from other governmental organizations interested in lending a hand as the state copes with the death, disruption and dislocation associated with historic floods.

Initial financial support will give Texas officials flexibility to devote resources to different areas. Cleaning up the wreckage will require another level of support where the state and federal government could play a role, Baker said, relaying to reporters highlights of his discussion with Abbott.

"He also expects and anticipates that he's going to need - once the water recedes and what's going on underneath all the water becomes more visible - he's going to need a lot of help from a lot of folks around the country and from the feds," Baker told reporters after addressing a national gathering of workforce management officials.

That work could include housing reconstruction, mitigation of pollution, and dealing with water-logged automobiles, Baker said.

While volunteers have traveled from around the country to help those affected by Harvey, which also hit Louisiana, the Bay State has not yet been tapped to send its own personnel to the area.

"We're basically on standby there, and if they want us to send people we will because that's what everybody does for everybody," Baker said.

Images of Houston cityscapes transformed into lakes have prompted discussions about how other parts of the country, especially those vulnerable to storm surges or where development has been heavy over the years, would fare if struck by a storm of Harvey-like proportions.

Asked about Walsh's comments and whether he agrees, Baker did a back-of-the-envelope conversion of Harvey's historic rainfall into the precipitation that has caused the biggest problems in Massachusetts in recent years.

"What is it an inch of rain is a foot of snow? So if we got 50 feet of snow in five days, which would be the equivalent of this, I don't think anybody could plan for that," Baker said.

In 2015, Baker was tested at the outset of in his four-year term by a relentless walloping of snow and cold that deposited roughly eight feet of the fluffy white stuff on the Boston area over several weeks.

The governor noted that an executive order he signed about a year ago directed officials to develop climate change resiliency plans and he thinks that will result in recommendations for how to handle zoning and permitting with an eye toward those issues, especially on the coast.

The governor on Thursday morning addressed a roomful of people from around the country tasked with dealing with another form of emergency: massive layoffs.

Representatives from 40 states and territories attended the Rapid Response and Business Engagement National Summit, according to the administration. Baker, who was applauded for his bipartisan outlook, singled out an attendee who traveled from Texas to attend the summit.

"We'll all be there to support you," Baker told Camea Dukes, the rapid response coordinator for the Texas Workforce Commission, who was sitting towards the back of the ballroom at the Boston Park Plaza.